An Indiana man whose cross-country crime spree with his girlfriend a decade ago ended in a gun battle with police in San Francisco was executed Thursday for robbing and murdering a sheriff’s officer in San Antonio.No late court appeals were filed for Joshua Maxwell, 31, condemned for gunning down Bexar County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Rudy Lopes and stealing his truck in 2000. The 45-year-old veteran jailer was off duty at the time.The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review Maxwell’s case. Maxwell also was convicted of killing a man in Indiana.Maxwell, his voice breaking and choking back tears, apologized repeatedly in the seconds before lethal drugs began flowing into his arms.“The person that did that 10 years ago isn’t the same person you see today,” he said. “I hurt a lot of people with decisions I made. I can’t be more sorry than I am right now.”Nine minutes later, at 6:27 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead, making him the fourth inmate executed this year in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.Maxwell was the fourth Texas inmate executed this year. He was among at least 10 Texas death row inmates with execution dates in the coming months, including two more later this month.
Austin Chronicle Recommended Event: Anti Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break
ANTI-DEATH PENALTY ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK Open to students and nonstudents alike, this weeklong program shows you what it takes to be an activist. You’ll attend workshops, write press releases, speak in public, and more, as well as meet former prisoners who spent time on death row, family members of murder victims, and many others. Register online. Mon.-Fri., March 15-19. UT campus, 210/601-7231. Free.www.
Death Row Exoneree Curtis McCarty to Speak at Anti Death Alternative Spring Break
Curtis McCarty, an innocent man who spent 19 years on death row in Oklahoma will be one of the speakers at the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break March 15-19 in Austin, Texas. Curtis is attending as a member of Witness to Innocence. He will join exonerees Shujaa Graham, Curtis McCarty, Ron Keine, Derrick Jamison, Juan Melendez and Perry Cobb at the alternative spring break to speak with participants about how innocent people can end up on death row.
Room and Schedule for Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break March 15-19 in Austin
It’s free, except for a $25 housing fee for those who need us to arrange housing for you. We will house you in a shared room with other spring breakers in either a hotel or dorm. You are responsible for your travel, food and other expenses, but the program and most of the housing costs are on us. The $25 housing fee is all you pay. Register here.
- Shujaa Graham, who spent 3 years of his life on California’s death-row for a crime he did not commit.
- Curtis McCarty, who spent 19 years of his life on Oklahoma’s death-row for a crime he did not commit.
- Ron Keine, who spent almost two years on death row in New Mexico for a crime he did not commit.
- Perry Cobb, who spent 8 years on death row in Illinois for a crime he did not commit.
- Derrick Jamison, who spent 17 years on death row in Ohio for a crime he did not commit.
- Juan Melendez spent seventeen years, eight months and one day on Florida ’s death row for a crime he did not commit.
- Bill Pelke, president of Journey of Hope … From Violence to Healing and former Chairman of the Board of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Bill authored a book entitled “Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing”, which details the May14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death. He also helps organize Journey tours nationally and abroad. Bill has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story over 5,000 times.
Galveston Newspaper Renews Call for a Moratorium on Executions
The Galveston County Daily News is renewing its call for a moratorium on executions. What caused them to write again today about the need for a moratorium is because of the Houston judge who last week ruled that the death penalty process used in Texas is unconstitutional because innocent people can be executed. This is not the first time they have called for a moratorium.
Judge’s critics not arguing right factsBy Heber Taylor
The Daily NewsPublished March 9, 2010Since State District Judge Kevin Fine of Houston declared the death penalty unconstitutional, critics have pointed out that he:
A. Is a Democrat.
B. Is a recovering alcoholic.
C. Is a former cocaine user.
D. Has a lot of tattoos.
They have not provided a coherent defense of the death penalty as it is administered in Texas.
If you want to read some really brutal criticism of Texas’ death penalty, forget about Judge Fine for a minute. Take a look at the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, most of whom were appointed by conservative presidents. For the past decade, they’ve had a lot to say about Texas.
The court threw out one conviction, not because it doubted the guilt of the convicted murderer, Thomas Miller-El, but because it found that, for decades, prosecutors in Dallas County “had followed a specific policy of systematically excluding blacks from juries.” That’s a decadeslong problem of procedure that poisoned countless cases. It’s not something that can be covered by an excuse.
When the Supreme Court began questioning the practice of executing people for crimes they committed before the age of 18, they looked at Texas, which had 26 such people on death row.
When the Supreme Court expressed qualms about executing people who are mentally retarded, it looked at Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court is not obsessed with Texas. The justices were just looking at the most obvious problems.
Here are just three:
• The possibility of error is great. The problems Texas has had with some of its crime labs are notorious. You’d have to be dense not to wonder about the evidence that has been presented to juries. The state has released people who have spent years in prison after DNA confirmed their innocence.
• There are still too many questions about racial bias.
• Too often the question of who lives or dies has more to do with money than with justice. Those who can afford to pay for a near miraculous defense often get one. Meanwhile, poor defendants often get poor representation.
For the past decade, The Daily News has asked the governor to declare a moratorium on the death penalty and to ask the Legislature to study the problems and address them.
We think real leaders would find that an interesting, challenging proposal — a more challenging topic than Judge Fine’s tattoos.
- Texas Moratorium Network (TMN) is a non-profit organization with the primary goal of mobilizing statewide support for a moratorium on executions in Texas. Significant death penalty reform in Texas, including a moratorium on executions, is a viable goal if the public is educated on the death penalty system and is encouraged to contact their elected representatives to urge passage of moratorium legislation.
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